Football League highlights are to be shown on low-profile Freeview channel Quest from next season.

It means Channel 5 will lose its rights to show action from the Championship, League One and League Two when their three-year deal expires this summer.

Although it has not officially been announced, many have been critical of Channel Five’s coverage of the Football League, which has attracted just 500,000 viewers.

The BBC were reportedly interested in acquiring the rights which they previously had between 2009-2015, but the EFL preferred interest from Liberty Group, who also run Eurosport and the Discovery channels, reports the Daily Mail .

I don’t think I am alone in thinking Channel Five’s coverage of the lower divisions has been poor.

Read More

It has unquestionably improved since debuting in the 2015/16 season, but numerous changes to presenters and pundits prove how disappointing the coverage has been – particularly in League’s One and Two.

Channel Five has given the Championship far superior coverage compared to the other leagues, cramming action of two leagues into a 30-minute show, which often clashes with Match of the Day.

The broadcaster even fell out with the EFL after the broadcaster’s decision to hire presenter Colin Murray.

It was reported that the EFL wrote to every club, telling them not to endorse the decision to replace popular duo Lynsey Hipgrave and George Riley.

(Image: Getty)

They were happy with the job Hipgrave and Riley did presenting Football on 5 last season, and were only told they wouldn’t be back for the new campaign on the same day as the presenters.

That prompted the EFL to send a letter to all of their clubs in which it was made clear that the decision had been taken without them.

Who knows what to expect when Football League highlights switch to Quest, but fingers crossed the coverage runs much more fairly across all three divisions, instead of Channel Five’s patronising and disrespectful showing of the third and fourth divisions.